AN outgoing SNP MP has warned Yessers they must be “bothered” to vote next year – so the future UK Government is sent a “strong message” from Scotland.
In an exclusive interview with The National Philippa Whitford, the retiring MP for Central Ayrshire and the party’s Scotland spokesperson in Westminster, said it was “vital” for independence supporters to turn out to vote at the next General Election.
Some projections have put Labour on course to make a comeback in Scotland, where they currently hold just one seat.
Pouring cold water on the party’s dreams of a substantial majority, Professor John Curtice last month said the best Labour could hope for after the next election was a hung parliament.
And while support for independence has remained relatively stable at just under 50% in most recent polls, the electorate’s love affair with the SNP seems to be in decline.
Whitford warned SNP supporters who might be sympathetic to Keir Starmer’s aim of kicking the Tories out of Downing Street that their votes would be counted as backing for the Union.
She said: “If they are pro-independence, then they need to be bothered.
“If Labour do not get a massive majority and obviously the predictions of John Curtice and so on is that actually it will be closer to a hung parliament, then actually sending a strong message from Scotland to Labour is absolutely vital.
“More than anything it’s important that they turn out and that they vote SNP, to show that it isn’t just about getting the Tories out, it’s also about having Scotland’s right to self-determination recognised. I would say that for people who support independence, it’s absolutely vital to come out.
“Even if they were former Labour supporters, as indeed many of my colleagues on the benches come from that background, many SNP supporters and indeed members come from that background, but equally, if that’s how they vote next year then that’s interpreted as a pro-Union vote and they need to understand that.
“I would say if anything, our chance is that if it’s a bit closer than maybe Labour would like and they’re going to have to work with other parties in Parliament, then you want the SNP group to be strong but also you want the message from Scotland to be strong; that Scotland has a right to self-determination.
“And we would expect the Labour Party, who always are marking and celebrating the independence days of other countries and the independence movements in other countries, to actually recognise Scotland’s right to self-determination.
“But that will only come if there’s a strong message from Scotland.”
Starmer’s strong polling was undermined when it clashed with reality in the Uxbridge by-election on Friday, when it was announced the Tories had held Boris Johnson’s former seat in the west London suburbs.
The Conservative candidate Steve Tuckwell had turned the election into a de facto referendum on Labour Mayor of London Sadiq Khan’s plans to expand the city’s ultra-low emissions zone to London’s furthest reaches.
The SNP also spy an opportunity in a row over the Labour leadership’s stance on draconian Tory benefit policies introduced during the years of brutal Westminster austerity.
Scottish Labour MSPs such as Monica Lennon have called on their London bosses to walk back Starmer’s newfound commitment to keeping the two-child benefit cap.
Whitford this week became the eighth SNP MP to announce she would not be contesting the next general election, joining big names such as Ian Blackford and Mhairi Black.
Others are expected to announce they will not be standing at next year’s General Election in due course, with the deadline for prospective candidates to put themselves forward understood to be towards the end of next month.
Announcing her resignation, Whitford hit out at the “challenging” and “negative atmosphere” in Westminster.
She said: “Working as an MP at Westminster has changed over the last eight years, especially after Boris Johnson became prime minister and aggression and contempt towards SNP MPs, and indeed Scotland, became the norm.
“While he has gone, his toxic legacy remains and only time will tell if this changes after the next election.
“While working away from home in such a negative atmosphere is challenging, there are many rewarding aspects to the job, particularly the satisfaction of helping individual constituents or working with the many fantastic local groups who do so much to improve our communities.”
